Flyers lose Simmonds, third straight game

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Bruno Gervais (27) celebrates his goal as Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8), of Russia, looks on during the second period of an NHL hockey game on Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

WASHINGTON - It’s taken a while, but the Flyers’ penchant for starting slow is now wearing on the boss.

Having watched his team lose for the third time in a row and seeing yet another key player leave early with an injury Friday night, general manager Paul Holmgren wasn’t about to hide his concern after a 3-2 loss to the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center.

Despite the Capitals having lost the night before to the Maple Leafs in Toronto, which saddled them with the league’s worst record at that time, the rested Flyers looked like the team dead on its feet to start this game.

And end it, too. But then, that’s nothing new.

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“I think we started slow, for whatever reason,” Holmgren said after his club dropped to 2-6 on this so-far scary-bad shortened season. “I thought we got into the game, played pretty good after the first eight or 10 minutes. But then we made a couple of mistakes that cost us goals. I’m concerned because we’re falling behind here. We’ve got to get going here.”

The Flyers got going behind a second-period goal by Bruno Gervais, but ultimately fell via giveaways as goals by Nick Backstrom, Troy Brouwer and finally Wojtek Wolski to put the game out of the reach for the Caps (2-5-1).

Somehow the slow start seemed to catch up to the Flyers.

“We didn’t have enough jump right from the get-go,” said Brayden Schenn, whose power play goal midway through the third period gave the Flyers a brief comeback hope, but ultimately proved too little too late. “When you play a hockey team that played the night before and gets in late, that’s when you have to jump on them early. And that third period wasn’t good enough.”

One key factor in the Flyers’ failure to come back was that they had to play the last two periods without top-line forward Wayne Simmonds. He went out early after getting tagged in the face by a not-so accidental elbow thrown by Caps defenseman John Erskine.

No penalty was called on the play when it occurred with 1:46 left in the first period, despite Simmonds left prone and bleeding from the nose on the ice. The force of the hit naturally raises concerns about a possible concussion.

Whether Simmonds could be ready for tonight’s home game against the Carolina Panthers also is officially up in the air. But like the looks of Simmonds with gauze stuffed up one nostril as he left the ice, it doesn’t look good.

It is easy to guess the league will review the hit for possible suspension. At the time, however, Zac Rinaldo was the only Flyer who responded the old fashioned way, fighting with Washington’s Matt Hendricks. But since they started swinging before a linesman dropped the puck — and yes, it took him a long time to drop it — both Rinaldo and Hendricks were given automatic game misconducts.

“The last thing you’d think about is the puck being dropped,” Rinaldo said. “That’s the last thing in my mind and probably the last thing in his mind, too.”

As a result, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette had to shuffle his lines like a deck of marked cards the rest of the way, going without two forwards, including a guy in Simmonds that plays a lot of minutes.

“It happened real fast,” Mike Knuble said of the hit on Simmonds. “Two guys going opposite directions. ... It hurt having him come out of the game. (Simmonds) is a big presence on our team and a big factor in us winning games.”

The Capitals had dominated early, getting 10 of the first 12 shots on net. After that, it was all Flyers ... but for too short a period of time.

They took the lead when Danny Briere found the puck behind the Capitals net and thought it a good idea to throw it in front. It went through clean to a closing Gervais, who wristed it past goalie Braden Holtby at 11:43 for 1-0.

The Caps struck back with 2:18 left in the period, thanks largely to Sean Couturier trying to get fancy with no one behind him. Couturier tried to skate through center ice rather than dump the puck — that’s been a bit of a lost art for the Flyers so far — and he chose to do so during a defensive change.

Washington’s John Carlson chipped the puck to Backstrom, who went in alone and beat Ilya Bryzgalov for 1-1.

The Capitals had a two-man advantage to start the third period, but it didn’t produce anything. That done, they took the lead anyway on a terrific shot by Brouwer. His wrister at 3:57 over Bryzgalov’s right shoulder was perfect for a 2-1 Caps lead.

What would be a needed insurance goal then came via another turnover, as Luke Schenn lost the puck and Wolski stole it and scored the Caps’ second breakaway goal of the night at the 6:44 mark.

Then with 9:30 left in regulation, working on the power play, Matt Read rung a shot off both posts, the rebound dropping to Brayden Schenn, who deposited it to cut the lead to a goal.

That’s as close as the weary looking Flyers would get. But why?

“It was turnovers,” Laviolette said. “But we need to compete better as well.”